Nana vs the Bad Birds
by Death By Segway Scooter
Summary: When Neotopia is threatened by evil birds, only one two-year-old girl can save us all! Well, sort of.


**Disclaimer:** _Superior Defender Gundam Force_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Nana vs. the Bad Birds**

Shute's assignment for the day was not fighting killer robots, creepy alien pirates, or terrifying demonic entities. Yet, it was still one of the hardest jobs he ever dealt with - looking after his toddler sister, Nana.

It had been about a year after the Dark Axis has been defeated. Everything was peaceful for the time being. Shute was just going about his daily life, waiting for the next inevitable adventure to fall into his lap. In the meantime, his mom needed to make a quick trip to the store. She had to have someone watch the girl and make sure she didn't get into trouble. With nothing else to do, Shute agreed.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded. Nana was already in her Terrible Twos. She could walk, and she liked to walk everywhere - including right down the street if they weren't careful. She could talk, and she usually used her new language skills to demand more cookies. She could escape almost anything now - cribs, booster seats, car seats, rooms, yards, even the house. She could break into things, too; Shute caught her trying to get inside his workshop, once!

In addition, Shute had to do this daunting task by himself. Captain was at Blanc Base today, undergoing his preventative maintenance. Zero, Princess Rele, and Bakunetsumaru were all back in their home dimension, taking care of any personal business before the next adventure turned up. So today it was just him and his sister...and her insatiable, potentially destructive curiosity.

Shute decided the best way to keep Nana in his sights and out of trouble was to make sure she stayed entertained. So, he took her and a couple of her toys outside and tried to play with her in the sandbox. Besides, the weather was nice outside for a change; it had been raining all week, and he figured they might as well enjoy the first dry day in awhile.

The sandbox was out by the garage. After taking the lid off the box, he sat Nana on one side and himself on the other. He carefully placed Nana's toys on the bricks by the side of the house; the ground was still pretty muddy in spots and he didn't want to get them dirty. He selected one of her plush toys (a guy in yellow, striped pajamas) and handed her a plastic horse (which seemed to have its head missing). He then made the plushie walk through the sandbox and look around.

"Gee, I wonder if there's any buried treasure out here in this desert?" he made the toy say in a goofy voice.

Nana seemed hesitant at first. But then she took her decapitated horse and made it walk up to Shute's pajama-wearer.

"Oh hi there, mister horsie! Can you help me find some buried treasure?" Shute replied.

"Uh...'kay!" Nana made her horse say.

Great, she was following along! All he had to do was keep this up until Mom got home. Shute reached into his pocket and pulled out the "treasure" for the toys to find: a smooth, polished, black pebble. It was the size of a coin, and shaped like a bean. He had found it on the ground one day when he was out by the Neotopia Tower. It looked like an onyx, and was always cool to the touch.

He placed the stone in the middle of the sandbox and made his character gasp.

"Look, mister horsie! There's the treasure right there!" Shute made the toy say to the horse.

"Yeah!" Nana exclaimed, making her mutilated horse jump up and down.

"Good thing it wasn't actually buried," said the pajama-clad toy. "Let's go get it, and..."

"Not so fast!" Shute lowered the pitch of his voice in an attempt to sound sinister.

He then made his plushie look to and fro, confused. "Who's there?!"

He glanced at his sister. She made a little gasp and stared wide-eyed at the scene in the sandbox. Now to add another character without her suddenly losing interest and running off. He reached over to the pile of toys on the ground behind him and grabbed a plastic figure of a snarling guy with a black shark's fin sticking out of his head. Perfect. He plopped the guy down right in the middle of the sandbox, in front of the onyx.

"The treasure's mine, see?" he made the fish-guy say. "I ain't lettin' you have it!"

"Oh man, mister horsie, this guy looks like trouble!" Shute made the plush toy say.

"Bad!" Nana shouted.

"Yeah, he looks bad alright!" Shute continued. "Whaddya think we should do?"

"Bad bird!" Nana barked.

"Um, I don't think he's a bird...," Shute looked up to find Nana wasn't even looking at him.

She was actually looking off into the distance behind her. Shute tried to follow her gaze and came across a single cardinal perched on the birdbath.

"Go 'way, you bad bird!" Nana yelled, throwing her horse in the cardinal's general direction.

"Calm down, Nana," Shute said, picking the toy off the ground. "It's only a little bird. Just ignore it, and it'll fly away on its own, okay?"

He handed her the horse back. She accepted it only to throw it at the cardinal again.

"No! He _bad!_ " she insisted.

Shute sighed. There were plenty of other birds in the backyard. A group of sparrows swooped down from a small pine to peck at the ground. A cooing pigeon was perched on the fence surrounding the deck. Crows called in the distance. Nana paid none of them any mind; she was completely focused on that one cardinal. Meanwhile, the songbird in question sat perfectly still at the edge of the birdbath, seemingly staring them down.

Seeing that they weren't going to get any peace with that bird around, Shute stood up to go chase it off. "Alright, fine, I'll get rid of him," he said to her as he walked away. "Just stay here, and-"

Unfortunately, Nana stood up and followed him.

"It's okay, I can handle it," he tried to tell her. "That bad bird is no match for me! You should go back to the sandbox and-"

"Go 'way bird! Go 'way, 'Zabi!" Nana shouted at the bird, ignoring her brother.

Shute stopped in his tracks. "...Zabi"?

His hesitation was all that the little girl needed. She took off toward the offending bird, her blonde pigtails bouncing. Shute tried to chase after her, but she outran him.

"Get outta here, 'Zabi!" she yelled, raising her arms above her head, "or I'll get you!"

The bird flew away just as Nana took a swing at it with both arms. She splashed the dirty birdbath water everywhere, including all over her white shirt and red overalls.

Shute's heart sank. _Oh, Mom is just gonna_ love _that!_ he thought.

He caught up with her and tried to pick her up, but she slipped out of his grip. She bolted after the bird, who was currently flying down the hill toward the workshop. He hurried after them, hoping and praying that she wouldn't trip and fall while running down that slope.

The bird landed in a nearby tree. As soon as Nana got close, it flew away and landed in a bush. When she began to catch up with it, it flew to another tree. Finally, when she approached it again, it flew all the way over to the workshop and perched atop its roof. Nana managed to run down the hill without so much as a stumble and charged over to one of the workshop's support posts. She looked around, but quickly saw there no easy way to get up there. She then armed herself with a tennis racket that had been discarded on the ground, and futilely hopped up and down while awkwardly flailing it around.

"I'll get you, 'Zabi!" she shouted at the feathered fiend. "You're not gonna hurt Mommy 'n' Daddy! You're not gonna hurt Shoo'!"

Shute stopped halfway down the hill, bending over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He could hear Nana ranting and raving at "Zabi." For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why she had named the bird.

...Come to think of it, it sounded like she was trying to call him _Sa_ zabi. But there was no way she should remember _him._

Nana was now angrily striking the post with the racket. He had to stop her before she broke something. Since she was distracted at the moment, he could probably scoop her up if he was quiet enough.

He hurried down the hill, trying to make as little noise as possible. Just as he got to the bottom, however, his legs suddenly went out from under him. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back in a mud puddle. He felt the wet soil in his hair, on his clothes, in his shoes, and even down his pants. Great, Mom was just gonna love this, too! At least no one saw him fall...

Shute began to pick himself out of the mire as a red streak flew over his head. He then heard the rustling of little feet through the grass coming closer and closer. He looked up to see Nana barreling toward him, brandishing her tennis racket. Before he could tell her to stop, she leaped in the air to avoid him...but didn't quite make it, and ended up using his stomach as a springboard! Shute gasped loudly as the wind was knocked right out of him. He rolled over on his side, further covering himself in mud. Nana, meanwhile, hadn't missed a beat, and was now chasing the bird back up the hill, toward the garage.

Shute managed to slowly get himself off the ground, still gasping and clutching his stomped stomach. His shirt now had a little muddy shoe print from where his sister stepped on him. This day was not turning out well. He regretted not keeping her inside and watching cartoons with her instead.

It was then that he heard Nana shriek. He quickly looked over to see her at the top of the hill, pointing in the direction of the sandbox.

"'Zabi stole the treasure!" she cried before running off.

"Wait, what?" Shute blurted out, confused. He zoomed up the slope as fast as he could and ran over to the sandbox to find...his onyx was gone! The cardinal was flying around in zigzag patterns as Nana was swinging her racket at it. He thought he saw something black and shiny in its claws...

Okay, now it was personal! The bird probably wanted the trinket for its nest, but Shute didn't care. He found that stone himself, and one doesn't just find semi-precious stones lying around on the sidewalk everyday! He picked up a broom from the side of the garage and charged after the cardinal with Nana. He wasn't going to try to hurt it - he was just going to try to tap it has lightly as he could in order to make it drop the stone.

The cardinal was flying only about a foot above Shute's head, probably due to being burdened by the stone. Nevertheless, it still managed to dodge each swing of the broom and tennis racket like a bird possessed! What was up with this thing? It wasn't secretly a robot, was it?

The feathered fiend flew out into the front deck and headed out of the yard. Not good - the fence wasn't very high, and had gaps in its design big enough for a toddler to fit through. Nana could fall and hurt herself! He had to act fast before the bird got away!

He sprinted forward, broom ready. He closed in on the little red demon, but just as it was within swinging distance - WHAM! Shute ran straight into the fence. To add insult to injury, he also toppled over it and landed in a bush down below. Leaves glued themselves to his mud-covered clothes.

Nana ran down the ramp to the cobblestone path in front of the house and looked around. Unfortunately, she was too late. She saw the bird flying away through the trees, still clutching the stone. As her brother plucked himself out of the shrubs, she angrily struck the ground with her tennis racket and cursed "'Zabi's" name.

Shute sighed, defeated. He took his sister by the hand and lead her back up the ramp and onto the front deck. Looks like he'd have to get another onyx from one of those crystal shops. It wouldn't be the same, though. For now, he had to get both Nana and himself cleaned up before Mom got home.

That's when things got worse.

"Shute! Nana! I'm home!" Mom called as she suddenly came around the corner of the garage. She was carrying grocery bags in both hands. "Anything happen while I was-"

Mom took one look at them both, and the grocery bags slipped out of her hands. One of them contained a carton of eggs which undoubtedly just caused its own mess. She saw Nana's outfit all wet and dirty, her shoes coated in mud. She was brandishing a tennis racket and glaring. Shute was covered in both leaves and mud, a small muddy shoe print right in the middle of his shirt. He was dragging around a broom, and looking rather guilty.

"'Zabi stole our treasure," Nana said to Mom, pouting.

"Uhhhh...I can explain!" Shute sputtered feebly.

* * *

Elsewhere, the cardinal was making its way across the grassy plains and forests toward the outskirts of Neotopia with the dark stone in tow. It needed to stop and rest a few times, but it eventually made its way to an abandoned steel mill in an old, vacant industrial park. It flew inside through a broken window.

Inside the mill were a great multitude of small birds. Mostly cardinals and robins, but there were a few woodpeckers, blue jays, blackbirds, and at least one pigeon. A scarlet macaw was pacing back and forth on top of a sealed, rusted steel drum in the center of the mill. On the drum next to the parrot was a small, black sphere the size of a billiard ball. It looked like a very large, well-polished onyx. It was nested inside two burnt metal rings that kept it from rolling around.

The cardinal flew over to the drum and dropped Shute's onyx next to the black orb. It then flew off to the rafters, its mission completed. The parrot stopped pacing and stared at the two black stones. Indeed, all of the birds seemed to stop and watch the gems with great interest.

The stones suddenly lost their luster, resembling two round shadows - or perhaps two holes in the fabric of spacetime. They began to levitate a few inches above the lid of the drum, and enshroud the air around them in darkness. The parrot was forced to fly off the drum as bolts of black colored "lightning" began to shoot out between them. The small onyx was dragged into the larger sphere, which grew slightly bigger. The shadows dissipated, and but the orb no longer looked like a simple stone anymore. It was still levitating, and there was an ominous purple glow around it. Murky bluish clouds shifted within the sphere, and tongues of purple energy flicked out of its surface here and there. The burnt, twisted metal rings began to levitate as well, and started to gyrate around the dark orb. As they did so, they lost their scorch marks and began to turn gold.

The macaw squawked. "Excellent! My Soul Drive is once again complete!" it said, trying to cackle with its feeble bird voice.

When Captain Gundam had destroyed his Soul Drive, Commander Sazabi thought it was all over for him. He was quite surprised when he suddenly regained consciousness - in many different places at once. The various birds of Neotopia had decorated their nests with the shiny shards of his broken Soul Drive, and upon doing so, somehow became possessed by a fragment of the Commander's consciousness. He quickly found he could control them all as a single hive mind. From there, he commanded the birds to search for any missing pieces and bring them to one spot. It took a good part of one of this planet's years due to the shards being small and therefore tricky to find.

In the process, he discovered that his Soul Drive could regenerate. When his new minions placed the shards next to each other, they would spontaneously fuse back together. He still wasn't sure if this feature was unique to his Soul Drive or not - or if anybody else knew about this. It was something he'd have to consider if he ever got his hands on Captain Gundam's Soul Drive again.

The birds suddenly began to dance around and sing, snapping the Commander out of his thoughts.

"SILENCE!" he screamed through the parrot. "NO ONE TOLD YOU TO TALK!"

The animals immediately quieted down and returned to their perches.

"That's better." He honestly didn't understand why he could only control these flying pests. When part of him had "awakened" inside the home of Captain Gundam's accursed human friend, Sazabi had wasted no time in trying to brainwash the boy. Unfortunately, the little insect did not even get so much as a headache from his telepathic commands. He supposed his mind control abilities did not work on the more intelligent animals.

In the end, the intelligence of his subordinates didn't matter. This phase of the mission was complete, and it was now time to start the next one.

"Listen up!" he barked at the birds, causing many of them to flitter about. "I can't help but notice that Neotopia is still standing. The mobile citizens still have their free will, and the humans are decidedly not statues. And it wouldn't surprise me if those-" he made the parrot snarl through its beak the best he could "-GUNDAMS still functioned! Apparently, my commanding officer decided to abort the mission after my defeat. This is not acceptable! This city shall be reconquered, its machines enslaved, its organics petrified, and - most importantly - _its Gundams scrapped!_ Do I make myself clear?!"

The birds chirped as they bounced and flew around the mill.

"ENOUGH!"

The birds calmed down and became quiet again.

"The first step would be to find myself a new body," Sazabi continued. "I need some time to come up with a plan. Until then... _get out of my sight!_ "

All of the animals except for the parrot flew out of the shattered windows. Now that he had some peace and quiet, the Commander began to think of places where he could steal himself a new vessel.

Captain Gundam was the one who destroyed his old body; therefore, it was the Super Dimensional Guard that owed him a new one. Before his defeat, he had taken out their main base. However, like everything else in this wretched city, it was probably back up and running. Even if it wasn't, he was certain that the SDG had to have auxiliary bases somewhere. Some of them might be hiding a useful prototype or two.

He realized that if he found them, it was very likely that these prototypes would be all - ugh! - Gundams. But having to take a Gundam's body was better than not having one. He could always use it to make a proper body later.

The parrot preened itself as Commander Sazabi made plans to infiltrate the SDG. It had been over a year - they were due for a visit!

 **The End...?**


End file.
